This collection documents the life and career of the documentary director, Marlon Troy Riggs, 1957-1994. The majority of the
materials in the Collection are from the period between 1984 and Riggs' death in 1994, the decade of his concentrated film-making
activity, as well as some more personal materials from the late 1970s onwards. The papers include correspondence, manuscripts,
subject files, teaching files, project files, research, photographs, audiovisual materials, personal and biographical materials
created and compiled by Riggs.

Background

Long Train Running: The Story of the Oakland Blues, 1981. (Co-producer, director and editor) Summary: Documentary about the
history of blues music in Oakland following the migration of black people to the East Bay area following WWII. Produced as
a graduate thesis for UC Berkeley. Awards: American Film Institute National Video Festival Documentary Division First Prize,
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Student Television awards Documentary Second PrizeMarlon Troy Riggs was born in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1957. Riggs lived in Fort Worth, Texas, until the age of 11, when his
family moved to Georgia and then to West Germany. He returned to the United States in 1974 to attend Harvard University, where
he studied history and graduated, with honors, in 1978. Riggs returned to Texas to work in television but left in 1980 to
pursue a master's degree in journalism at the University of California at Berkeley, graduating in 1981. His graduate thesis
entitled Long Train Running, produced and co-directed with fellow student Peter Webster, was a half-hour video on the history
of the blues in Oakland, California.

All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California 94304-6064. Consent
is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission
from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s) or assigns. See: http://library.stanford.edu/depts/spc/pubserv/permissions.html.

Availability

Open for research, except restricted materials in Series 3 subseries 5. Audio-visual materials are not available in original
format, and must be reformatted to a digital use copy for research viewing on campus only. Some audio visual materials have
a digital copy, details available in the reading room. Born-Digital materials are closed until processed.